Shoes or No Shoes?

Over the past few years, running barefoot has become more and more popular in the fitness world.  The style of running is called “minimalist” which means wearing web-toed shoes, similar to the picture below.   On a run just the other day, I passed by a fellow Trojan wearing these barefoot shoes.  This is a concept I have questioned for some time now.  To my understanding, those who believe in barefoot running make a point that humans ran and walked without shoes for thousands of years, so why is it necessary to run with them now?  They argue that exercising without shoes is normal for humans and should reverse past injuries caused by modern running shoes, as well as prevent future ones.  At first glance, it seems logical and at times, I have even considered trying it out.  But, after doing a little research myself, I won’t be getting rid of my running shoes anytime soon.

In the last month, The New York Times published an article which conducted a study on the effects of running barefoot.  Dr. Douglas Brown, a radiologist in Orem, Utah, began the study when he noticed the large amount of barefoot runners he was seeing for heel and foot problems.  He teamed up with professor, Sarah Ridge, to see firsthand if running barefoot lead to injuries.

The study consisted of 36 experienced runners, both men and women who run between 15 and 30 miles a week and wear normal running shoes.  One group continued to wear normal shoes while the other incorporated minimalist running into their weekly runs.  After 10 weeks, both groups received an M.R.I. to see if any damage was caused.  There were no signs or injuries in the lower leg of any of the runners, but more than half the runners wearing minimalist shoes showed early signs of bone injuries to their feet.  Specifically, the bone marrow edema (fluid causing the bone to bruise) was above the healthy levels for a majority of the minimalist runners.  A couple runners in the minimalist group were even found to have full stress factors.

Of course, in this experiment, the test group was only 36 people and other factors such as running form and genetics were not taken into consideration.  However, based on the test results, it seems that minimalist running should be avoided until further studies are done on it.  In my opinion, barefoot running serves as an example for how society today is more concerned with the “in” trends than what they know to be good for their health.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/barefoot-running-can-cause-injuries-too/